Today is my 11th wedding anniversary.

Usually, our anniversary gets postponed and overlooked. We exchange cards and kisses. Life happens, and life takes priority over anniversaries. I don't mind, really. This year, we may go out, but I'm not sure. We are still waiting to get our house, and waiting to get our first paycheck.

This is a typical scenario. We haven't had many "standard" anniversaries. That suits me fine, though. I'm not an extravagant sort of girl...I'd rather have a new set of silverware, with enough salad forks for our family of nine, than a dozen roses delivered. (Not that I don't love flowers, I'm just cheap cheap cheap all the way down to my toenails.)

But you know what? You don't need flowers and wine once a year to make a great marriage. A great marriage is made by husband and wife giving 100%.

Every morning, when husband dear gets out of bed at 4:30 am to go work in the heat? That's his gift to me. When he goes to Mass, to help with the children, even though he's not Catholic and hate liturgical churches? A gift to me. Moving all of the furniture by himself (we've moved almost 20 times in 11 years. Yes, really.) so we can have a better life? A gift to me. When he eats lentils and rice, even though he's a steak kind of guy? A gift to me.

Because it's my blog, and I'll bore you if I want to, here's a rundown of our Anniversary History!

Last year, we had to move, and Baby X, 7 weeks old, had just been released from the hospital with no answers or diagnosis.

2006 - husband dear was 1800 miles away on the East coast. I had quit my job a week before. Mr R had problems at school and I pulled him out. Single mother with 6 children, including an infant and an unstable special needs kid? Not so good of an anniversary.

2005 - Newly pregnant with Miss C. Good anniversary. The temp job had turned into a full time position with benefits.

2004 - I was working two jobs (60 hours a week). Miss V was three months old. I worked as a temp from 7-1:30, drove home, nursed the baby, and then worked as a auto glass dispatcher from 2-7.

2003 - Husband dear's mother was dying in the hospital

2002 - We lived in a horrible little house in WY. I was pregnant with Mr S. We got the worst stomach flu I have ever had, and had to be hospitalized. Husband dear was so sick he couldn't move, so a friend of his brothers drove me 45 minutes to the hospital. Vomiting in a stranger's car? Not a good anniversary.

2001 - We took our honeymoon, a weekend in Green Mountain Falls, CO! Yes, we had three children and it was our fourth anniversary. I am a champion procrastinator!

2000- I don't remember any catastrophes or disasters. It was most likely a good anniversary!

1999 - I was on bedrest for Mr P, and just slightly bitter that I had to miss my sister's wedding.

1998 - Labor started for Mr R, 6 weeks early. He wasn't actually born until the 26th... do the math. Not a good anniversary.

1997 - Got married at the Denver courthouse. Moved to TX the next day.

Here's what I was thinking about last year on our tenth anniversary.

Labels: Family Life

This Old Schoolhouse is hosting a virtual summer reading program.

Summer Reading Splash has bookmark downloads, tracking sheets, and will reward kids for reading with an ebook.

Labels: Freebies

From Illinipundit:

Application to Eat (click to enlarge)

Labels: Friday Fun

Everyone's seen the Lifelock commercial, right? The CEO, Todd Davis, is so sure his service is the best that he openly gives out his very own social security number - on flyers, on billboards, on TV.

Except - 87 times people have tried to steal his identity. One succeeded.

And he's being sued. Clients claim that he knew his service didn't fully protect them - how could it when Davis himself wasn't even fully protected?

LifeLock customers pay $10 a month to do something that is available to the public, free. Highway robbery, I tell ya.

Your best protection against identity theft? Get a shredder. It's also helpful to have a little boy who loves machines on hand. He will beg incessantly to shred everything.

You are entitled to free credit reports once a year from the major credit bureaus. Get one from Equifax, then four months later get one from Transunion. Four months later, get it from Experian. If you see faulty information, contact the bureaus in writing. They have 30 days to verify the debt or delete it from your file.

And don't brag ab0ut how great your company is at preventing theft. That's just asking for it!

Mama Says: Glass, china, and reputation are easily cracked, and never well mended

OK, Ben Franklin actually said that. But it bears repeating!


Art from All Posters.

Labels: In The News, Need to Know

Mr R cannot have food dyes.

He will not swallow pills.

Every children's remedy I've ever seen is inexplicably dyed neon purple, fuschia, or orange. Why? It doesn't make it taste any better.

This adds up to a perfect storm when Mr R is sick. He's miserable and whiny. How bad does he feel? Is it worth the risk of giving him Red #40 in order to bring down that fever?

Last week I broke down and gave him some Tylenol chewables. He didn't flip out, but he did regress about four years. He happily played with a toy firetruck for hours, making siren noises and running it back and forth on the carpet. He's nine.

I was bemoaning this fact to my sister, who found Dye Free Children's Motrin for me! Hallelujah!

A couple of handy sites for those with sick children:
Tylenol Children's Dosing Chart

Motrin Children's Dosing Chart


For more tips, go see Shannon at Rocks In My Dryer!

Art by Mary Evans

Labels: health, therapeutic diet, Works For Me Wednesday

A church has banned a parishioner from attending Mass.

He is autistic.

Read the article before jumping to conclusions. Barbara at Mommylife shared this yesterday, and I commented there. I have more to say, though.

I have been that mom at Mass struggling with an older child throwing a fit. Mr R can sometimes be thrown for a loop, especially if sensory issues are involved. At my church in Colorado, I pretty much would just throw in the towel if we ended up in the back couple of pews, where the air vents blew directly on the backs of people. Last Sunday, the incense made him a little restless and chatty, but not too bad.

If Mr R was disruptive, however, I would take him out.

I do not want to judge the parents in this situation, but my heart aches for this poor boy. He seems unable to handle the stimulation of a public Mass with many people. I don't know why they would not have the priest visit them privately or arrange for a private Mass at home.

Their poor son is not treated with dignity. They bind his hands and feet at church. They allow him to urinate on the floor (they make personal care products for incontinent people, there is no excuse for that).

All are welcome at Mass, but there is also a duty to be charitable to others. We must love our neighbor as ourself, and not put them in danger.

What say you?

Labels: Catholic, Special Needs

I'll admit it. I'm a throwback. I have a deep, dark confession to make... I do not have a cell phone.

There. I said it. I use the nifty cell phone pocket on my purse to hold sunglasses or matchbox cars, depending on the time or location.

I used to have a cell phone, paid for by my work. My boss's wife called me while I was in labor with Miss C. And got mad when I didn't call her back until after I left the hospital. She was a control freak. Frankly, when I quit and there was not room in the budget for a cell phone, I was relieved. It can be a drag sometimes to be available to everybody all the time. Kind of like being a stay-at-home mom to everyone with your phone number.

However, there has been many a time when I wished I had a cell phone.

Husband dear is getting one. His work strongly suggests it. We're going with the Cricket $50 plan for him - unlimited calls, long distance, texting, and web access. Also 30 minutes of roaming, which he may need, since his friends live in the boonies out of service area.

My dilemma? I can get a home phone, or a cell phone for myself. It will cost about the same ($45 a month), except I will have to buy a cell phone. What do you do? Pros, cons?

And, anyone have a Cricket phone they recommend?

PS, I'm not doing both because our budget can't take it! We just filled out the benefits package for work and it's costing us $800 a month (and we opted out of the Vision plan), plus our new rent is 150% of our old rent. At least food is cheaper here!)

Labels: Frugal, moving

Yesterday, I had some keys made for husband dear's toolbox.

Lowe's Clerk: What is this key used for, ma'am?

Mama: A lock.

To be fair, it was a dumb question. I should have told him I picked my teeth with them.

Labels: Duh award, Family Life

We made it to Texas!

After false starts, rewiring the trailer twice, and diarrhea emergencies (note to self: Capri Suns are a convenient road trip snack, but two year olds cannot handle a steady diet of them!)

We are staying with RCB of Leave the Lights On. You can imagine that my level of conversation has been raised significantly, and indeed we've already had discussions about Intelligent Design/Creationism/Evolution and Schrodinger's Cat.

I've been offline for a long time, so it will take a few days to catch up! If there's something I simply shouldn't miss, leave me a note in the comments.

Labels: moving